Monday, August 31, 2009

Lando, the guy who sold Han down the Imperial river.Lando, the guy who helped get him back.Lando, the smooth operator.Lando, the guy who wore Han’s clothes at the end of the Empire Strikes Back.

Lando – except for the very end of ESB – had one change of clothes during that movie, and this is it.He came with an already-on vinyl cape, and a laser pistol.This laser pistol is to the ESB line like the Stormtrooper blaster was to the last line – a lot of figures have it, with a minor alteration.Lando came on ESB and ROTJ cards, and had one variation – white was added to his eyes and teeth later.

Why should you own this figure?Five reasons:

1. Lando’s smooth, like a Colt 45.

2. Whisk that cape right off to simulate rescuing Luke off of Cloud City.Then put it right back on to woo the ladies.

3. Aside from the one Bespin Security Guard, this is the only African-American figure.C’mon, give a brother some respect!

4. This is your last chance to enjoy Lando before he gets really pretentious and gets a Skiff Guard Disguise and a General’s Uniform (with cloth cape no less!).

5. You can finally recreate the missing scene where Lando first meets Vader:

Vader: “So, like some people are coming and I want ‘em.”

Lando: “Yo, you get all up in my face in my crib?That ain’t right”

Vader: “I don’t mean no disrespect.I gots to collect my homies.”

Lando: “Sh*t, brother, that’s all you had to say.”

Yeah, something like that.

Backstory:

Lando, born on Socorro, is reportedly from a wealthy family, but gave it up to live a life of adventure.He eventually “settled down” on Bespin, and ran Cloud City operations.Then Lando betrayed Han, went to rescue him (In Han’s clothes from the first movie!I still can’t get over how weird that looked), helped save him, then blew up the second Death Star.After that he went back to his old way, flocking from one money-making venture to the other, apparently uninterested in being in the political spotlight after defeating the Empire.He does, however, pop up all the time in subsequent novels, often being referred to as “Uncle” Lando by Han and Leia’s kids.He got married about 18 years after the first movie, to Tendra Risant, a business partner he got really close to.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

the new URL will be: http://afotd.blogspot.com. Technically, it has always been this, but I did have www.afotd.com and actionfigureoftheday directing to it. To save money I am dropping thos and just sticking with the free one. Again, as of Oct. 10, I will only be using http://afotd.blogspot.com. Thanks!

While the Land of the Jawas Action Playset was fairly routine for that time (cardboard background, plastic base), what it actually did was leave an enduring legacy. The same plastic base was used again – only changing its color – in not one, but two subsequent playsets: Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Set and Rebel Command Center Adventure Set.

The set came with a sandcrawler cardboard background with a manual figure elevator, a plastic base, and the droids’ escape pod. Molded into the base was a depression to put the pod in, sandcrawler tracks, and a little cave for a Jawa to hide in. You could put the Jawa on a rotating platform on the base and make him “shoot” R2, who fell down because of a little moving panel beneath him. You could put a figure in the elevator, and fit at least two figures in the escape pod. Oddly, enough, the European version of this set released through Palitoy did not include the escape pod. Many a British child went podless. The set only came out in a Star Wars logo box.

Now, while I admire Kenner’s moxie in re-using the base, they couldn’t modify it at all later? Like AT-AT tracks instead of sandcrawler tracks? A cave large enough to hold a wampa? Who knows? The playset itself was good, even though it replicated the elevator in a slightly worse way than the remote-control sandcrawler out at the same time. You could always own both and just use the base with the sandcrawler if you were so disposed. Or anal retentive. You decide.

Why should you own this set? Five reasons:

1. It was actually a neat, cheap little Tatooine playset.

2. Your parents wouldn’t pony up the cash for the remote control sandcrawler. You’ll show them!

3. You can market it to your parents as sister-friendly. “Land of the Jawas” evokes more of a Smurf-feel.

4. Recreate the scene where Stormtroopers stuff Jawa bodies in the cave, until they run out of room and leave them wherever.

5. Recreate the real scene where R2 gets a cap in his ass by a Jawa. Yes, a Jawa. This is the same droid that takes on multiple Mark II Battle Droids in Revenge of the Sith. Man, you’ve gone downhill.

Backstory:

Not much of a backstory, really. You can recreate the scene where R2 gets shot by a Jawa. You can put the droids in the martini-shaker escape pod. You can even set fire to the background as Stromtroopers kill the Jawas (no, don’t really do that). It’s just a playset to enact some Tatooine scenes on. I suppose you could even later use it to have a teenage Anakin ask a Jawa where his mom is…before he then kills a bunch of Tatooine natives.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Soooooo, we’ve got Leia in all her various outfits.We’ve got Han in several different costumes and in Carbonite.Luke’s got several different versions too.Who else could we make a different outfit for?Oh, I know, Klaatu!The most beloved character from ROTJ!How awesome and rad (this was the 80’s) is that?

In actuality, there are several different Klaatus (the name of the race) in ROTJ, so this really isn’t the same Klaatu, but some guy who worked as a skiff guard.He comes with a force pike that is actually a unique mold and not one of the pikes that comes with Skiff Guard Lando or Nikto.He was only released on an ROTJ card, which was probably enough, given his I’m-just-here-as-cannon-fodder-status.He is darn stylin’ in his beige jumpsuit though.

5. One more figure to get blown up in your faithful recreation of the Sand Barge explosion.

Backstory:

Klaatu is a Kadas’sa’Nikto (the other “Klaatu” is really named Wooof) who was paying off a large gambling debt to Jabba. He basically worked as an indentured servant, mainly helping to repair skiffs. Like many in Jabba's palace, he had plans to off the big guy himself, but was beaten to the punch by Luke and the gang. Of course, he was killed by Luke on the deck of Jabba's sail barge before it blew up.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Klaatu is an exceptional character only for the fact that he is the only character besides the main ones who really had two different outfits - the "regular" one and the skiff guard outfit. Now, granted, there was more than one of his race there, so it could have been a different "Klaatu" as well.

The Klaatu character came with a bladed force pike. Since we never really saw it in action, we can only guess he used it as a cudgel and a pistol. His loin cloth was also one of the few actual soft goods used in the original figures. The loin cloth came in two variations, thicker and thinner. Some Klaatus also had tan arms. The card back came in only two variations, one with a mail-away Emperor offer and one without.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:

1. Klaatu's name was inspired by the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still," where the main character utters the phrase "Klaatu Barada Nikto" to his robot. This phrase was used again in other popular media, most notably a couple of scenes in "Army of Darkness" where Ash forgets the words and unleashes an undead horde. Ah, good stuff.

2. Because of you need this figure, plus Barada and Nikto, to complete a "set." In the later 1990's line they were offered as a 3-figure set.

3. He came in two outfits, so you might as well get one of them.

4. You have to throw someone down the Sarlacc pit.

5. That alluring loin cloth. I'm not gay, but if I were...

Backstory:

Wooof (his real name) is a Kadas'sa'Nikto was a pilot for Jabba's many spacecraft. He was killed when Jabba's sand barge was blown up.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Gorneesh comes with a big club, and a little more detail than the other Duloks. This is still not saying much, since they all come from a cartoon series. The figures are thus...cartoony.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:

1. With only six figures, it’s pretty easy to collect this whole line (yes, I reused this one - again).

2. He’s the king, baby!

3. Big club – smack those Ewoks. Smack ‘em, smack ‘em!

4. If you were the kind of person that got Gargamel instead of the Smurfs, than you probably got this figure.

5. It’s not easy being green.

Backstory:

Gorneesh was king of his Dulok tribe in the Ewoks TV series. Like dozens of other TV series (e.g. the Smurfs) he was always looking for a way to defeat his good guy enemies – the Ewoks. He had a “crown” of some kind of animal backbone (no idea how that balanced on his head), an eye patch (not explained), a large club, an animal skull necklace, and what appear to be turtle-shell shoulder pads. I'm sorry, Endor-turtle shoulder pads.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Another mohawked being on another planet in the Droids line – what a surprise. Also weird that three figures in a row are alphabetical and from the Droids line. The figure comes with a satchel and a blaster from the same mold as the original Stormtrooper blasters.It is molded in black however, and not the navy from before.He sports some interesting facial hair and a lovely shade of purple skin.The eyes are rather large and the loincloth is just a touch larger than Tarzan’s.

Why should you own this figure?Five reasons:

1. Only one of twelve – get the whole line.

2. Where else are you going to get a purple-skinned alien?Not from the movies, that’s where!

3. Mascot to slave laborers.

4. Mascot to guys with interesting soul patches and sideburns (Joe Mauer from the Twins?).

5. Could be mistaken in a dark alley for grey-skinned aliens.

Backstory:

Kez-Iban was the alias used by Mon Julpa, a Gundy and the rightful prince of Tammuz-an.He had his memory erased by enemies of the throne, and sent away. He was helped by Jann Tosh and Jann’s uncle Gundy eventually get back, reclaim the throne, and regain his memory.Another figure based on his prince appearance was prototyped but never released due to the line fizzling out.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Another mohawk?What is with the Droids series and mohawks?I would think if droids could have hair than C-3PO and R2 would have had mohawks during this series too.Kea Moll was the only woman figure produced during the Droids run.She came with a blaster pistol that was ubiquitous during the ESB figure run – Lando had it, Bespin Security figures had it, etc.Even another Droids figure had it.While nice looking on screen, her looks did not translate well to the figure and she looks rather, hmm, how shall I say?Butch.She also has a rather thicker neck and a horrible green sash molded on – but I am no fashion critic.

Why should you get this figure?Five reasons:

1. Why?Eh.She’s only one of twelve in the line, so why not?

2. A bit of a mascot for women who play for the other team, if you get my drift.

3. With two different shades of green, she can be an Irish mascot too.

4. The only Star Wars figure ever produced that had hair that hung down (except for Weequay’s braid).

Kea Moll was a native to the planet Annoo, and a resistance fighter to the Empire and gangs.When she was tasked with finding a new weapons satellite built by the Fromm gang, she discovered its hiding place, and helped Thall Joben and Jord Dusat escape getting killed at the same time.She eventually helped destroy the satellite, and get the two speeder racers to the Boonta race.She continued following them to gain access to information from manufacturers loyal to the Empire.She later formally joined the Rebellion and helped found the New Republic Intelligence.

Monday, August 24, 2009

That funky mohawk means it must be Jord Dusat…or one of the other three figures with mohawks in the Droids line.What’s up with that?Like Jann Tosh’s weapon, Kenner again went back to the ESB well for Jord’s accessory – in this case the same gun that came with Zuckuss (now 4-LOM).Also, like all the other figures from Droids, he came with a gold coin and his own card front, but the card back on all of them were the same.

Why should you own this figure?Five reasons:

1. The closest Star Wars has come to an action figure of Randy from My Name is Earl.

2. With that Mohawk, he is the Star Wars mascot to all punk rockers.

3. His speeder looked suspiciously like a Colonial Viper.Enough reason to get the figure, eh?

4. Only twelve figures in the line, might as well get them all.

5. That blue and purple color scheme?The best figure for the color blind.

Backstory:

Jord Dusat was a speeder racer and designer from Ingo who, along with his friend Thall Joben, found the droids while out testing their speeder.He decided to keep the droids, who had just been dumped by their previous master, since his new speeder required an astromech droid.Jord and the droids became involved with an agent, Kea Moll, and her attempt to find a weapons satellite being built by the Fromm gang to eliminate all the other gangs.The good guys succeeded, and Jord went on to a probable job with the Zebulon Dak Speeder Corporation.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Can’t trust a Jawa. Those beady eyes. Always after your ipod. The gun that looks like part of a muffler. Actually, did you ever see that scene in John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” where Kurt Russell uses the hot end of that flamethrower testing people’s blood? Yeah, the gun looks like that, only without a backpack. But that is neither here nor there.

The Jawa came with a “blaster pistol,” which was really more of a portable ion gun to neutralize machinery. It’s the same one used on R2 to take him down in the first movie. The gun looks like it has been warn down, but it is really lacking any good detail. Most Jawa figures also came with a cloth cape, but the earliest release had a vinyl cape, making it pretty rare. Underneath the cape on the figure itself is printed bandoliers (which were actually over the cape in the movies). The Jawa came on a SW, ESB, ROTJ, and POTF card. It was one of the original “12-back” figures. I have two left to do from the 12 – can you figure out which ones?

I have said this before and I’ll say it again, I was always miffed by the short figures when I was a kid. They seemed like such a rip off. At least when they came out with Jawas in the 1990’s line they made it a two-pack. No cloth cape though. The Jawas afforded a special place of honor as both the Remote-Controlled Sandcrawler and the Land of the Jawas Playset was made with them in mind.

2. Line up three and turn on your recording of the Lollipop Guild song from The Wizard of Oz.

3. Cloth cape = Jawa strip tease.

4. Get a heap of them and re-enact that little Jawa bonfire C-3PO and Obi-Wan got going.

5. Addendum to number 4: re-enact the missing scene where the Stormtroopers fight the Jawas. Sure, they can take out a sandcrawler full of Jawas, but they can’t take out some frickin’ Ewoks? The Empire deserved to die.

Backstory:

Jawas are native to Tatooine, and are very passive compared to other natives such as Tusken Raiders. They are descendants of race that once lived on the very habitable Tatooine, but was mercilessly bombed by a rival race, turning the planet into a desert. The climate change eventually created a divergence in the species: Jawas and Sandpeople.

Jawas live in tribes, scouring the desert for discarded junk and debris from colonists and space. The sandcrawlers they travel in are abandoned ore haulers; left behind when it was realized the ores of Tatooine weren’t worth the cost.

The Jawas were most prominent in capturing the two droids and selling them to Luke and his Uncle Owen. That tribe was killed because of that, but there are many more on the Tatooine landscape.Their appearance is a mystery, since they wear special cloth strips over their faces to keep in moisture. That, and no one likes their smell.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

That open shirt with the ripped chest and abs? It’s He-Man, I mean, Jann Tosh! With his fondness for red vests and headbands, Jann Tosh comes with a blaster rifle just like IG-88’s, except molded in black. He also has different colored wristbands, completing his 1980’s “let’s get physical” ensemble.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:

1. Hey – Jann isn’t just a girl’s name anymore.

2. That dashing headband, that bulging chest.

3. The only other guy that could pilot the A-Wing, I mean, R-22 Spearhead.

4. The idol to headband-wearing guys everywhere.

5. You actually go for those kind of looks.

Backstory:

Jann Tosh bought the droids from an abusive owner, as well as an alien (who later turns out to be a prince) in disguise. He eventually takes the alien, Kez-Iban, back to his homeworld to reclaim his throne. Jann is then made captain in that world’s space navy. At one point in the show, he is shown piloting an A-Wing fighter, but since those weren’t supposed to exist until after The Empire Strikes Back, this has been retroactively converted (retconned) to an R-22 Spearhead. Along the way he was helped out by the two droids. Afterwards he joined the Rebel Alliance.

Friday, August 21, 2009

What do you do when you run out of the will to make something unique? Why, dig up something old and re-use it! That’s what Kenner did for Jabba’s Dungeon, reusing the base from the Droid Factory. It was remolded, however, so you couldn’t see that there were spots to put a bunch of little pieces. The base of the hook was also moved a little.

The Dungeon was a Sears exclusive, and had two different versions (one for each year it was out). The first one had a grey base and came with 8D8, Klaatu (Skiff Guard), and Nikto. The later one had a brown base and came with EV-9D9, Amanaman, and Barada. It only came out in an ROTJ box. The hook was the only implement of torture – or the movable part – in the whole thing. It is interesting to note that anything that ever came with figures in the original line was some store’s exclusive. Hmmm.

Why should you own this set? Five reasons:

1. You got left out of the Droid Factory craze.

2. You want these three/six figures, but are too lazy to buy them separately.

3. Get it for it’s play value! Oh, wait, it sucks.

4. Can use it as a display stand, because that’s about all it’s good for.

5. You can fit it in the full-size Jabba’s Palace you’re building. You nerd.

Backstory:

Jabba’s real dungeon had grimy cells, and the droid torture rooms were pretty much one big room and didn’t resemble this at all. This is pretty much a lazy excuse to come out with another toy in my humble opinion.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

In name, this is a playset, but it can be argued that this is a two-figure set with some accessories.

The major player here is Jabba, with movable torso, arms, and tail. When you moved the torso it made the tail move – rather nifty at the time. Accompanying him is his cackling court jester, Salacious Crumb. Crumb has no movement, and is only formed to sit on Jabba’s throne. However, this doesn’t prevent your from trying to imitate his laugh.

The throne features all the accoutrements:-Trapdoors to simulate Jabba’s dungeon.-A hookah with pipe and water bowl (for a tasty Klaatoine paddy frog snack)-A slave collar and “chain”

To be honest, this was probably one of the best figures I ever had.Why should you own it? I’ll supersize-it with 10 reasons!

2. Where else are you going to find a toy that so blatantly advertises smoking?

3. The detail is actually really good for the original line, down to the little Cyclops faces on the front of the throne.

4. The inside of Jabba’s throne is another one of those “Mom doesn’t know what she’s buying me” things. There are skeletons in there and a random jawbone and everything!

5. Doing the Jabba Shuffle – move the tail back and forth and watch him do the twist.

6. Make Salacious Crumb cackle incessantly at your younger sibling.

7. The slave collar and chain gave you hope that they would make a Leia in Slave Girl outfit figure. This, however, did not come until the 1990’s line.

8. The figure set up on the box, other than Luke wearing the collar, is actually fairly representative of the characters on the scene in the movie.

9. Jabba’s trap-doored throne dungeon is a good place to give time-outs to your figures that have been naughty.

10. Perfect to place next to your Han in Carbonite (either the figure or the accessory from the Slave I ship).

Backstory:

His full name was Jabba Desilijic Tiure, a Hutt who, at only 80 (he was about 622 years old when he died), started his crime empire on Tatooine. His palace is actually an old B’Omarr monastery (the big spider thing you see in the palace? That’s a B’Omarr monk).

He rose to power through gambling, spice smuggling, and other sordid endeavors. He attracted various lowlifes of the galaxy, including bounty hunters, various yes-men, and his majordomo, Bib Fortuna. He picked up Salacious Crumb, a Kowakian spider monkey, on one of his rare off-world excursions. Crumb had been a pest on a space station and hitched a ride on Jabba’s ship, one step ahead of exterminators. Crumb so humored Jabba with his antics that he kept him on as a jester, but only if Crumb made him laugh at least daily.

Jabba’s overconfidence led to his downfall when Luke and the gang, attempting to rescue Han, killed Jabba and much of his entourage by blowing up his sand barge (technically Leia strangled him with the slave chain before that). Crumb died in the explosion.

After Jabba’s death, the B’Omarr monks took their monastery back by force, overcoming whichever of Jabba’s followers were left. Jabba’s father, Zorba, put a price out on the people who killed his son, but ended the bounty once Leia was elected to head of office, to avoid any conflict.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The ISP is one of the many Mini-Rigs that Kenner produced both in the ESB (5 ) and ROTJ (4) releases. While none of them ever appeared in the films, they were a way for kids to get a vehicle cheaper than the larger ones, so they could still have a Star Wars vehicle to put a figure in. The ISP was basically a kind of dwarfinated version of the Imperial Shuttle, which was, well, pretty effin’ huge. The ISP had a one-man cockpit, two wing-mounted lasers, landing gear, and wings that could be put up or down. There was also kind of a heads-up display in the cockpit. According to the promotional material it was more of a shuttle between ships that could ferry Imperial troops. Well, it couldn’t ferry a lot of troops being a one-man vehicle.

Why should you own this vehicle? Five reasons:

1. Small, easy to fly (hold), and takes up little space.

2. Mini-rigs are perfect for your office cubicle - small and barely valuable enough to steal.

3. Pretend to have a very Star Trek-like Star Wars episode where the shuttle crashes and something weird happens on the planet. Why was something always happening to those shuttles? And why did they always crash on a planet? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to be trapped in the endless void of space?

4. Have a Rebel take it for a joyride.

5. Like riding my T-16 and shooting wamp rats back home.

Backstory:While maybe a couple of Mini-rigs were later worked into the Droids cartoons or Star Wars comics, this was not one of them. However, like all the Mini-rigs, it could be argued that this was used off-screen.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

You’ve got to love the mini-rigs.Even if you’ve seen every movie 30 times, you can still get a mini-rig and know you haven’t seen it in action.Besides the cheap cost, that was probably the best thing about the mini-rigs: you weren’t told or shown how to play with them ahead of time (i.e. the movies).It was all up to you.Now – down to the particulars of this vehicle.

The INT-4 (4 because, you know, they had to put a number in there) is short for “Interceptor.”What this is supposed to intercept is never made clear, but from the box you can guess it was to intercept Rebels on Hoth.Or Imperial Snowtroopers.Or AT-AT Drivers?And when you intercept them, what can you do with them?Only one guy can fit in the thing!Oh, who the hell knows.The INT-4 had a front swiveling laser cannon, an opening top-loading cockpit, and retractable wings.It also resembled the bastard offspring of a union between an AT-ST and a Cylon.The wings were “remote operated” because you pressed a button on it instead of moving each wing yourself.“Remote operated” – you gotta love it.

Why should you own this vehicle?Five reasons:

1. You’re not bound by rules of this vehicle does “this” or “that.”Do whatever the hell you want.

2. Cheap, and something for Snowtroopers to do.

3. Kind of looks like a Cylon Raider from Battlestar Galactica, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

4. Gun, moving wings.What’s not to like?

5. Doubles as a head for any one of a number of large robots in other toy lines.

Backstory:

The INT-4, according to Kenner, was for scouting out the Rebel base on Hoth.This seems unlikely given that the Probe Droid pretty much did this, but, whatever.Its only appearance in the SW Universe may be in the book, Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka, but this may be another type of INT vehicle.

Monday, August 17, 2009

The Imperial Troop Transport was the first vehicle to be introduced that was *kind of* not seen in the films. I say *kind of* (love those asterisks!) because the Rebels did use a similar vehicle on both Yavin and Hoth that was briefly seen in SW and ESB. Granted, it's completely plausible that it was a generic vehicle in the Star Wars universe and both sides could have been using these, but Imperial use is never shown in the film.

The Imperial Troop Transport was first released during the first movie. It featured 6 "slots" for figures on the sides, two cockpit spaces that opened out like any car door, and space for two figures in the back prisoner area. It also came with two restraints that inexplicably covered the face and shoulders of the prisoners. Binders may have been a better choice, but considering the variation of figure sizes this might not have been practical.

The niftiest features were the rotating turret cannons on the top, and the six buttons that had more or less authentic sound effects from the film. The six included 2 different gun sounds, a vehicle, R2, C-3PO, and a Stormtrooper.

The vehicle was released again during ESB, but it was renamed Imperial Cruiser, it was a Sears exclusive, some decals were altered, and it lacked the sound effect buttons.

Despite its iffy official canon status, I always liked this vehicle because of the sheer number of figures you could fit in it, the moving guns, the fact you could wheel it instead of having to fly it all over (I was a lazy kid), and the sounds. It was hard to get your little brother to stop playing with the sounds though.

Why should you own this vehicle? Five reasons:

1. Finally, lock some Rebels up. Just a bunch of hippies anyway.

2. A vehicle you could really get going across the linoleum. Granted, you could do this with the Landspeeder, but that only fit 2 people, and had no guns. Daddy likes guns. And it scared your cat.

3. The sound effects were cool, even if it lead me to believe you were only suppose to act out capturing the droids. Wow. What a fight they would have put up.

4. The front is reminiscent of Boba Fett's helmet, who was only a glimmer in George Lucas's eye at the time, so it looks vaguely menacing.

5. It was kind of the figure case before there were figure cases you could play with. Heck, it held 10 figures despite it seeming relatively small.

Backstory:

The Reconnaissance Troop Transporter, as it was officially called, was built by Santhe/Sienar Technologies for the Empire. It used repulsorlifts for levitation and presumably some variation for propulsion. It appeared in several Marvel and Dark Horse Star Wars comics, and is now presumably an official vehicle in the Star Wars universe. When pictured in the comics, the Transport was actually almost exactly identical to the toy.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Poor TIE Pilot. This character was featured in the first Star Wars, usually right before getting blown up. Yet, he didn’t get a figure until ESB. Maybe this was a boon, since no TIE Pilot was actually shown during ESB. Yet, those glory-hog Snowtroopers got a lot of face time! Bastards.

The TIE Pilot came on an ESB, then ROTJ card, and came with a blaster pistol that looks a lot like a phaser from the old Star Trek series. His head did not turn, like most of the helmeted Imperial figures, but he still managed to look cool. Like other pilots, he did not get a figure shot but a vehicle shot on the background picture. When will they learn to look at the man and not the machine!?

Now this was a figure that came out a film later then the actual vehicle he was supposed to pilot. This happens again with the AT-ST driver. The least Kenner could have done was made a TIE Bomber (featured in ESB) to come out at the same time. But ooooh, no. They don’t come out with one until 2003, and then they make it a Wal-Mart exclusive. What? I can’t be bothered to get all dressed up to go to a Wal-Mart – who are they kidding? Then again in 2007: a Target exclusive. Well, I really can’t afford clothes to go in there.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. You’ve had the TIE Fighter since it came out – finally get a pilot! Then crash it.

5. It’s really hard for one person to hold both the Falcon and a TIE Fighter at the same time to have a dog fight. Why not just fly the figures around instead. It’s like the same thing! Right?

Backstory:Only ten percent of recruits that joined the TIE pilot program actually made it into the TIE fighter corp. Others were dispersed to do other military functions. TIE pilots had a full life-support system uniform, because TIE fighters didn’t actually have life-support. Unlike a ship such as an X-Wing, TIEs were ferried to their location by a supporting ship, like a Star Destroyer, so their actual flying time tended to be short. However, if they were shot down, their survival tended to be minimal, thus they were normally not given personal weapons or rations.

In the subsequent novels, there were a couple of TIE pilots that got a few pages, Baron Soontir Fel, and a TIE pilot that crashed during the original Battle of Yavin. He was discovered years later by Han and Leia’s kids when Luke founded a Jedi Academy on Yavin.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Finally, somewhere where the natural Stormtrooper color actually works! I hope the Empire learns something from this. Oh, wait – they still sent out stark white Stormtroopers to a forest environment (Endor). Morons.

The more common name for this guy is “Snowtrooper,” but the title of this posting reflects the official name on the card. The trooper came on both ESB and ROTJ cards, and came with a rifle (Dengar has one too). He also has a plastic skirt attached to his hips to reflect the smock worn in the film.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. If you’re Scottish, this comes closest to a SW figure with a kilt.

2. More mysterious than the first gen Stormtroopers – now you can’t even see their mouths!

Snowtroopers/Hoth Battle Gear/Cold Assault Stormtroopers – all the same thing. Personally, I like the last one – it sound like they were shrunk to microscopic size to fight an infection in the Emperor. These were Stormtroopers that went training geared to place them in colder climates. Their uniform reflected this as well, with better heaters, a breathing hood, and traction boots. For more, check out the other Stormtrooper post.

Friday, August 14, 2009

The Sniper is another one of those little vehicles Kenner made to provide more play value at a cheaper price.The Sniper never appeared in any of the movies, even though the card picture makes it appear as though it was used on Endor.What is even more confusing is that one of the Snipers pictured is carrying an R5 droid.First of all, no R5 droid has been directly featured since the first movie.Secondly, the inept little grappler arm on the Sniper can’t hold something that big anyway (unless you used string).Now for the kicker – if you look carefully at the grappler arm on the Sniper, you’ll realize you’ve seen it before.Yes, it is one of the claw arms on the ESB mini-rig, CAP-2!Weird, wacky stuff my friend.

Why should you own this vehicle?Five reasons:

1. The Power of the Force logo on the packaging looks cool enough.

2. The grappler arm could be a torture device for Ewoks.

3. Small and cheap.

4. Very easy to hold for playing.

5. Laser cannons and jets!A little boy’s dream!

Backstory:

Although probably made up just for the toy line, Kenner managed to work the Imperial Sniper into an Episode of Droids, “The New King.”It appears idle in a docking bay.It was one of three small one-man vehicle nicknamed “body rigs”: The Sniper, the Security Scout, and the Sand Skimmer.

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Simple - we put up an action figure a day. If you subscribe to us, a vintage Star Wars action figure / vehicle goes to your RSS reader daily. How much more nostalgia could you want? Remember to click on the pictures to see them up-close and full-size!